Alan Caruba's blog is a daily look at events, personalities, and issues from an independent point of view. Copyright, Alan Caruba, 2015. With attribution, posts may be shared. A permission request is welcome. Email acaruba@aol.com.

Thursday, July 17, 2014

How "Normal" is Bowe Bergdahl?

Bowe Bergdahl and a Taliban friend

By Alan
Caruba

There are
few military crimes worse than desertion to the enemy short of outright treason
by giving them aid and comfort.

So why is
the U.S. Army declaring Sgt. Berghdal (he received a promotion from private
first class while being either a Taliban captive or guest) a “normal soldier
now”?When one’s entire unit declares
him a deserter for leaving their Afghanistan based on June 30, 2009—as they did
on a show with Fox’s Megyn Kelly—by what stretch of the imagination is he just
a normal soldier stationed at the headquarters of Joint Base San Antonio-Fort
Sam Houston?

Fox News
reported that former Army Sgt. Evan Buetow who served with Bergdahl as saying
“I think it’s very clear he deserted his post. He thought about what he was
doing, he mailed some things home, he walked away and we have witnesses who saw
him walking away. And if you’re walking away in one of the worst, most
dangerous areas of Afghanistan without your weapon and gear, I don’t believe
you’re planning on coming back.”

If he is
found to be a deserter, the release of five high level Taliban generals to get
him back is one more Obama obscenity since it is well known that he has wanted
to shut down the Guantanamo Bay detention center for enemy combatants captured
on the field. Having already investigated the circumstances surrounding his
having left his unit, the U.S. Army surely knew whether Bergdahl was a deserter
at the time the decision was made to swap for him. I suspect, too, that a major
ransom was paid the Taliban for his release.

This is,
however, a different Army than the past. It, like the other elements of our
military has become highly politicized by the Obama administration; one that
continues to reduce its size under the cover of sequestration. Many of the
military’s top officers have been relieved of command or pushed into
retirement. Even officers in the field in Afghanistan are being fired. The effect on the troop’s morale is incalculable.

Fox News
reported on July 14 that “Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl could have a tax-free
$350,000 dropped into his bank account if the current investigation into his
disappearance from his base in Afghanistan was not desertion, and if he is
deemed to have been a prisoner of war for the five years he was held by Islamic
militants.”

Given the
circumstances of his decision to leave his unit, immediately becoming liable to
capture, and the reported statements, letters, and other views he held about his
deployment and about the U.S. Army, Berghdal is most certainly not “a normal
soldier.”

One must
ask why Obama thought the announcement of his release merited a White House
presentation that included his parents; his father uttered an Islamic phrase that
drew a presidential smile. The phrase “bismillah al-Rahman al-Rahim” is a
common Arabic phrase, considered by some to be a major pillar of Islam and
featured prominently in the Koran.

To date,
however, Bergdahl has reportedly not spoken to his parents. Why? And how
“normal” is that?

If
Bergdahl went AWOL in Afghanistan, why are we being told he is free to move
around at will? One has to wonder if he doesn’t have some military “minders”
with him at all times to avoid a problem that would cause a big scandal. What
we do know is that this Army sergeant has hired a Yale University legal scholar
to represent him.

I suspect that
a major cover-up is going on and that the official Army decision will be that
he was a prisoner of war after leaving his unit. A soldier whose return was
celebrated in the White House rose garden by the President is not likely to see
a day in the brig. At most he might receive a dishonorable discharge for going
AWOL. After that both the White House and the Army will hope he sinks into
anonymity.

Everything
surrounding Bergdahl’s “disappearance” from his unit and his return shouts
cover-up. One element is likely to be a very lengthy “investigation”, one that
surely will not come to a conclusion before the forthcoming November midterm elections.

Given the
honor, loyalty and sacrifice of thousands of U.S. soldiers on duty today, as
veterans and as fallen heroes, the Bergdahl story is an offence to them and to
all Americans. It is one more chapter in the legacy of a President who has been
far more sympathetic to our nation’s enemies than our military.

About Me

I am and have been for a long time a writer by profession. I have several books to my credit and my daily column, "Warning Signs", is disseminated on many Internet news and opinion websites, as well as blogs. In addition, I am a longtime book reviewer and have a blog offering a monthly report on new fiction and non-fiction.